No stay on Sabarimala verdict; Supreme Court to hear review plea in January

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused to stay its verdict which permitted women of all ages to visit Kerala’s Sabarimala pilgrim shrine. However, a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi agreed to re-examine the decision in open court on January 22, following several pleas to reconsider the ruling which has triggered a political storm in Kerala.

The date of hearing will be after the two-month prime pilgrim season for which the temple reopens on November 17. This leaves the Kerala government with the onerous task of maintaining law and order by controlling protesters and protecting women of menstrual age who wish to undertake the pilgrimage.

Over 500 women have registered online for permission to visit the shrine so far. Advocate KV Muthu Kumar, who filed a review plea on behalf of Chetna Conscience for Women, said those opposed to the ruling can move an interim application for a stay of the judgment if they wanted to.

The Kerala BJP has supported those opposed to the verdict on the grounds that it was ‘against tenets of the Hindu faith’. The Congress central leadership has allowed the state leadership to side with local sentiment against allowing all women entry into the temple. The ruling LDF has not been able to implement the court order following strident protests.

Petitions have been filed by NGOs, political leaders and activists challenging the order permitting women of all ages to enter the temple. The common thread in the petitions is that the presiding deity is a celibate who ‘cannot be disturbed’ by presence of women.

In September, a five-judge bench comprising then CJI Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar, RF Nariman, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra had in a 4:1 judgment allowed women of all ages to enter the temple. Misra has since demitted office. The review bench hence comprised the earlier four judges and the CJI. Since a review is always to the same bench, it is usually disallowed.